Smoking is intrinsically disorderd

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Debate. Is Smoking an intrinsically disordered act, and if so, why isn’t it considered grave matter? Is it not a selfish act? Is it not a misuse of our lungs?
 
ForwardProgress said:
Debate. Is Smoking an intrinsically disordered act, and if so, why isn’t it considered grave matter? Is it not a selfish act? Is it not a misuse of our lungs?
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Drug abuse and alcohol abuse too could come under this thread. I would say that they fall into the same category as greed which is one of the seven sins.
 
Linnyo said:
Drug abuse and alcohol abuse too could come under this thread. I would say that they fall into the same category as greed which is one of the seven sins.
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Ok…but any little bit of smoking is abuse, right? No amount is ‘good for you’. I could almost say the same for alcohol in any amount…there are studies that say this and that about it…but is alcohol self-indulgent? Does it lead us closer to Christ?
 
Linnyo said:
I would say that they fall into the same category as greed which is one of the seven sins.
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If any of the 7 deadly sins, I’d file it under “gluttony.”

I think that any abuse of our body (which is on loan from God) is disordered. Ideally, we should take care of it by eating well/moderately, exercising, refraining from smoking and excess drinking.
 
When I was 15, our parish priest lit up as soon as he left Mass and greeted the parishioners with one hand and a cigarette in the other :eek: (1970’s). Luckily I have not seen anything like that since. I feel that there is enough information out there for people to decide if they want to do this to themselves, but that it is highly inappropriate for leaders of any kind to promote it by their own behavior.

Annie
 
monorail said:
If any of the 7 deadly sins, I’d file it under “gluttony.”

I think that any abuse of our body (which is on loan from God) is disordered. Ideally, we should take care of it by eating well/moderately, exercising, refraining from smoking and excess drinking.
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Oops - that is the sin I meant - the word escaped me.
 
Ah…but why isn’t it considered ‘gravely disordered.’ It’s a disordered use of the primary function of the lungs, ie, to breathe…to get pleasure instead.
 
ForwardProgress said:
Ah…but why isn’t it considered ‘gravely disordered.’ It’s a disordered use of the primary function of the lungs, ie, to breathe…to get pleasure instead.
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That’s true, but say you’re badly injured and you have some opium around to smoke and relieve the pain (I mention opium cuz that’s where morphine and heroine come from). It wouldn’t be intrinsically disordered to do such a thing if that’s the only way you could gain relief from pain. Smoking is an old way of ingesting drugs. Nicotine is a stimulant drug the same way coffee is. I don’t believe the act of smoking is necessarily disordered, it’s the addiction and abuse of the drug that’s disordered. If you’re going to smoke, you just can’t do it very often. An occasional smoke is not any worse than an occasional twinkie or alcoholic beverage, both of which can cause serious problems when engaged in without control.

Nowadays we have better ways of doing things, but that does not make the old ways intrinsically disordered.
 
Here is the CCC referrance:

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.​

My advice based on my understanding of the above is that if one is gonna smoke or continue to smoke, then one should do it moderately, and not to excess 🙂

But my better advice is that if one can quit, then one should do it. I think one is much happier being tobacco/nicotine free. 👍

God bless,

Rony
 
I have been smoking for 26 years. How did I get started? While I was going through military training (basic and AIT) it seemed like everyone smoked. So, my thought was, it can’t be ***all ***bad. Well, it is. And it is addictive. So, it’s easier to not even start.
 
This thread is really wracking up my guilt 😦

So So true Christy - wish I’d never ever taken that cigarette that fateful night in that bar in Atlantic City all those years ago 😦
 
I think a good balance should be struck in how these things should be viewed, lest people fall into scrupulosity on one extreme, and laxity on the other.

I do not see smoking as a sin, much the same way I see drinking, gambling, dancing, etc., but only that it should not be abused, that is, taken to an excess. It becomes sinful when abused.

The problem here is that smoking is addictive. If there are alternative smoking methods that are not addictive (or ones that have very little nicotine content), then smokers should try those and see how they adapt to them. I am not a smoker, so my advice will probably not be very convincing to a smoker, but I think it doesn’t hurt to try different products that can lessen the possibility of prolonged addiction.

I would say the same for those who abuse drinking. I think, if one tries some non-alcoholic (or low-alcohol) stuff, then that should help a little. It should give a similar taste (well relatively), but without the strong affect that alcohol has on the body.

This is coming from a non-smoker and a non-drinker (well, not completely, I do occasionally drink), so perhaps my advices are somewhat worthless, considering how hard it is in general for people to recover from nicotine and alcohol addiction.

In any case, I’ll always recommend prayer for those enslaved to any type of addiction, and that’s never a worthless advice 👍

God bless,

Rony
 
My grand point to all this, is why is masturbation considered ‘gravely disordered’ but tobacco isnt? Why isn’t it tolerated ‘in moderation’ like the others? They are all selfish, do not lead one to charity, and do not bring one closer to God.
 
My grand point to all this, is why is masturbation considered ‘gravely disordered’ but tobacco isnt? Why isn’t it tolerated ‘in moderation’ like the others? They are all selfish, do not lead one to charity, and do not bring one closer to God.
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Good questions. Perhaps this is the answer: Matt. 15:17-20

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."​

Perhaps, since smoking enters from the outside into our body, and not out from the heart like masturbation, that the two are distinct. I’m not sure, I’m just giving a possible explanation.

God bless,

Rony
 
The difference between smoking and consuming excess alcohol (or narchotics)…is that alcohol impairs judgment. It doesn’t matter how many ciggies you smoke…you are still lucid and coherent.

The problem with smoking, spiritually speaking, is that it is addictive. And dependence on ANYTHING other than God could be a stumbling block for anyone. But considerate smoking only physically harms the person who is doing it. (by considerate, I mean, not smoking around others or while pregnant, properly disposing of the ashes and butts, etc.)

Personally, in regarding adults who are already smoking, I think it is a very private matter between that person and God. I think that quitting is something that God needs to inspire and help a person to do. And as Christians, we should lay off of smokers (including Christian smokers)

But then again, maybe my view is jaded because I am a smoker.
😃
 
Substitute the word masturbation in where the word smoking is…aren’t they the same thing? Why is one condemend as being ‘grave’ while the other is not?
 
ForwardProgress said:
Substitute the word masturbation in where the word smoking is…aren’t they the same thing? Why is one condemend as being ‘grave’ while the other is not?
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Masturbation and smoking are not the same thing. Masturbation is disordered because it interferes with God’s purpose of giving us our fertility, our share in the gift of creation. Masturbation spills seed, that is why God struck down Onan, he threw the gift of his fertility away. It’s not the act of masturbation itself that is disordered as much as it is the result, both physically and psychologically. Masturbation is much more than just the physical act, there is a domino effect in doing it that reaches out into other parts of a person’s life, indeed into the life of society. In smoking, it’s the addiction that causes the domino effect and reaches out into other parts of a person’s life, so that is why it’s the addiction rather than the act of smoking that is disordered. Masturbation is disordered because semen is meant for a greater purpose, and the disrespect of that purpose causes more far reaching problems.
 
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